Today is another new park for us, we have never visited Capitol Reef before.
We were told that it was not the best of Utah’s Might 5. We actually loved Capitol Reef. There were fantastic views and the rock formations were amazing.
We went to the visitors center to stamp our passports and get a map.
We stopped at the Gifford house where we had to pick up one of their famous pies. It’s really neat that you can go in and pick fruit in the orchards when they are in season but obviously March is a little early for that.
We also made time to say hello to the horses, Emmy has a deep love of horses, she can’t wait for the day she gets to ride one.
We drove out the scenic drive then down to Capitol Gorge Trail.
This was an easy 2 mile hike along a wash with lots of interesting things to see.
The kids loved seeing being in the gorge and did well on the easy trail.
We really liked checking out the petroglyphs.
We were sad that it was too cold out for a picnic but we enjoyed the views from the car and ate lunch while we drove out.
After lunch we decided to tacked the Hickman Bridge Trail. Emmy had it made in the backpack but Cannon did amazing hiking on this 2.2 mile moderate hike.
We were so glad we decided to do this trail, it was a highlight to get to hike through the natural bridge!
The hike was really fun with lots of cool features along the way, it is a bit steep so Emmy was in the pack but Cannon did really well.
It was really cool getting to walk through the arch.
Our last stop was at the Petroglyphs, the kids loved running along the board walk and the images of people and big horn sheet were amazing.
There might not be as many epic hikes here as other national parks but we found it majestic and very kid friendly!
After our hike we went to pick up our trailer and head east to Bryce Canyon. We drove straight into a storm, with low clouds and blowing snow.
We made the difficult decision that we would likely not enjoy camping or visiting Bryce Canyon in that weather. We cut our loses and turned back east. If we could wait it out a couple days the weather would be lovely but we have work and school to return to.
We are sad that we won’t make all 5 of Utah’s National Parks but I guess it’s just an excuse to have to come back.
Trip Posts:
DAY 4 – CANYONLANDS NATIONAL PARK
DAY 5 – TRAVEL DAY TORREY UTAH
DAY 6 – CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK
[…] DAY 6 – CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK […]